Province-wide health care survey results very troubling: NDP

September 10, 2014

Province-wide survey results obtained by the NDP under the Freedom of Information law show doctors, nurses and health professionals are frustrated with the quality of health care in our province, years into the government's controversial Lean experiment in health care.

While a majority of health care employees indicate they are well aware of the Lean experiment, a full 71 per cent of employees and 64 per cent of doctors say the Lean project is not effective in "transforming the health care system to significantly improve the quality of care in the province." Well over half of employees say they completely reject the changes Lean has brought to their own departments.

"These numbers should be a wake-up call for this government because it's clear that doctors, nurses and other front-line health care workers are extremely frustrated with the way things are going," said NDP Leader Cam Broten. "This government is spending untold millions of dollars to fly in American consultants and Japanese senseis for its Lean pet project, but it keeps neglecting what really matters in health care. No wonder those on the front lines are so frustrated."

The province-wide survey results also reveal that:

82 per cent of employees say senior managers do not act on employee feedback and 72 per cent of doctors say senior managers do not properly consult with them before making decisions.

81 per cent of employees say not enough is being done to retain good front-line workers.

75 per cent of employees and 72 per cent of doctors say senior managers do not provide effective leadership.

74 per cent of doctors say they do not have the tools and resources to serve their patients as effectively as possible and 69 per cent of employees say they do not have the tools and resources to be as productive as possible.

76 per cent of doctors and 70 per cent of employees say the way their performance is measured does not make sense to them.

74 per cent of employees said there are not enough front-line workers to do the job.

69 per cent of employees and 65 per cent of doctors say managers do not properly deal with poor performance; and

59 per cent of doctors say the system does not provide the highest quality of care to its patients and 54 per cent of employees say the system isn't "fair, respectful and honest with patients, clients and residents."

Broten noted the government's own statistics also show that patient safety is getting worse, with adverse events, infection rates, patient pain management and death after serious surgery all increasing.

"This government needs to stop being so obsessed with its Lean pet project and wasting so much time and money on it," said Broten. "It needs to start fixing the basics in our hospitals, care facilities and home care. A good place to start would be to actually listen to the concerns and ideas of our doctors, nurses and other front-line health care workers, instead of just thinking that American consultants, Japanese senseis and senior managers know best."